Elevated ammoma levels, oftentimes called hyperammonemia, is a potentially fatal symptom associated with a variety of diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and urea cycle disorders found in neonatal infants. Left untreated, hyperammonemia can lead to cognitive developmental issues, seizures, other neurological problems, and death. The current testing methods include fluorometry and tandem mass spectroscopy performed by central laboratories, which could take multiple days to produce a reliable diagnosis. These methods involve large, cumbersome, and expensive machinery, which prevents testing of ammonia levels at the bedside or home once the disorder has been identified. Therefore, a system for a point of care testing device may be desired, as this may allow administration of treatment to occur more rapidly, in turn improving the neurological development of infants as well as making cirrhosis
more manageable. Devices able to test for hyperammonemia may also be modified inexpensively to detect amino acid levels for applications in diagnosing and treating aminoacidopathies and other diseases.